4-2-19 fdl school board race

One of the big races locally is for Fond du Lac School Board where four candidates are running for three open seats.   Incumbents Peggy Breister and Mark Jurgella are running for re-election along with challengers Richard Gedemer and Nick Tiefke. Jurgella says he’s running for another term because he likes the direction the board is headed with the district.  “Over the last number of years most people in the District have experienced a tax decrease because of our actions and our school oversight has improved,”  Jurgella said.    Breister says she brings a questioning mind to the board.  “When there are things I think we need further explanation on or I think we need to delve into a little more deeply I’m not afraid of asking those questions so that we can all understand where we’re going.  I’ve been a strong advocate for transparency,”  Breister said.    Teifke says he’s running because he sees a lot of exciting things going on in the school district.  “When you look at things like the ACE Center at the High School and the referendum gives us hopefully the ability to touch all of the public schools in the next 3-5 years.  I think that’s really exciting,”  Teifke said.  Gedemer started speaking at school board meetings more than two years ago shortly after a high school student’s bizarre social media post scared most of the high school students into leaving the school early or not attending school at all.  Fond du lac police investigated and ultimately determined what students and parents perceived as a threatening message was misinterpreted.   For the next several board meetings Gedemer spoke in defense of the student who made the post, speaking often with religious tones,  about what he described as the “forgotten students.”   Gedemer told the board the story about a police officer knocking at the door and wanting to interview the student after the parent of another student reported a concern about a social media post about a revolution.  Gedemer said the parent had misunderstood the multiple meaning of the word revolution.   Gedemer told the board the student was inspired by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and a high school college  career exploration guide titled  The Revolution.  “The student thought to use the word revolution to describe the desired social change that are breaking down cliques , saying hello to someone you don’t know and make a new friend,”  Gedemer told the board.  Students took the message as a threat and hundreds either left school that day or didn’t show up at school at all.  Police say students were panicked  because the social media post was made the evening  after  unrelated verbal threats had been made earlier that day in the school cafeteria.  Gedemer denied multiple requests to be interviewed.